No. 3 Walters State run win streak to 19 after sweep of Cleveland State

MORRISTOWN,TN – Walters State head baseball coach Dave Shelton has experienced a great deal of success over the years and one reason for that is never settling for any kind of complacency. That is something he had to remind his team of on Saturday.

The 3rd-ranked Senators ran their winning streak to 19 games by defeating Cleveland State 3-0 and 13-5 in Saturday's doubleheader. They are now 25-1 and 13-1 in conference play.

Despite the two wins, Shelton said he saw some things he had to address with his team after the second game was over. "I was preaching to them that we have to fight complacency and make sure we aren't our own worst enemy. We want to stay hungry every time out and we have to understand you just can't show up and win games, you have to execute and play well or someone is going to beat you."

In the first game, pitcher Hayden Summers was dominating as he struck out 15 batters in only seven innings to improve to 6-0 on the season. He got into a little trouble in the second inning when two Cougars moved into scoring position on back-to-back singles but after striking out the side, Summers didn't allow a baserunner the rest of the contest.

"We know he is capable of that every time out but he was special today as he had a little extra giddy-up," Shelton said of his talented hurler. "There is a fierce competitor in there and I've seen that a couple of times this year. There are some guys you come across when they get in a little trouble they can take it up an extra gear and Hayden did it. He came out and punched out the next two batters and they never threatened again. It was a heck of an outing."

Noah Gent was the offense in the 3-0 victory as he drove in all three runs on a single, double and finally a two-run homer in the sixth that gave his team some insurance late in the contest. Shelton said with a team that hits like the Senators, it is sometimes difficult to decide who is going to be in the starting lineup but 

Gent made the most of his opportunity on Saturday against the Cougars. "It's hard when you have so many talented guys to keep everyone in the lineup so much. We have been trying to go with the hot hand at times as some other guys had been performing well and it was his turn today. We got him in there against a couple of lefties and he picked us up, he was our best hitter all day long."

In the second game, Walters State smacked four pitches over the fence as they cruised to a 13-5 victory. Jerry Hammons, the national juco leader in homers, started the hit parade off with a solo blast in the first inning and then added a single and double later in the contest as he finished the game with two RBI's. 

Caleb McNeely had a home run that accounted for two runs in the fourth inning Cam Fisher had a solo blast in the fifth and Lukas Cook ended the game on the mercy rule when he deposited an offering to the plate over the fence in left field on the final play of the game for a three-run dinger. Alberto Osuna had a bases-loaded single in the sixth inning that drove in two runs and pinch hitter Skylar Cannady made the most of his opportunity when he laced a two-run single into left field, also in the sixth.

Jake Knapp (3-0) picked up the win on the mound as he threw five innings with six strikeouts and one hit. Other Senators' pitchers who saw action against Cleveland State included Peyton Calitri, Joey Mitchell and Bryaden Matthews. "We were able to get some younger pitchers in there to get some experience," Shelton said. "They have to learn how to pitch in certain situations like not walking guys when you have a seven-run lead because that is a recipe for disaster. I told them it's a stat killer because we want their ERA's to be good but when you walk the lead-off batter who is hitting in the eight-hole for the other team, you deserve to give up some runs."

The Senators are scheduled to next be in action on Tuesday as they travel to Cleveland Community College in Forest City, North Carolina for a double header starting at 2 p.m.

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics